Spray head



April 2, 1935.

- F. H. KNQWLTON SPRAY HEAD Filed June' 22, 1955 Patented a rjz, 1935 iI l 1,916545. Q

UNITED, STATES PATENT OFFICE 1,996,545 SPRAY HEAD me n. Knowlton,Boston', Mass. Application June 22, 1933, Serial No, 677,115

9 Claims. (cl. 299-141) This invention relates to an improved spray andin Fig. 2 of the drawing I have shown all of head especially designedfor use in connection the passages closed except two at opposite sideswith shower baths or the like and seeks, among of the chamber. As willbe perceived, the volume other objects, to provide a device of thischarof flow of water from the chamber l3 into the acter which willdischarge concentric sprays of chamber l4 as well as the water pressuremay be 5 water each composed of a number of fine streams readilycontrolled by ciosirig either a greater or and wherein the size of thestreams of the outer lesser number of the passages IS with the plugsspray may be readily regulated. IS. The greater the number of passageswhich The invention seeks, as a further object, to are plugged, the lesswater pressure will be deprovide a device of this character wherein thelivered tothe interior of the head or casing. In 10 volume of waterdischarged may, without the reducing water pressure through the passagesby use of separate valves, be readily controlled. inserting pl w Waterto h wer cham- Still another object of the invention is to proher isreduced and the volume discharged from vide a device eliminating the useof gaskets, the casing is also reduced. Therefore, when all' wherein thedevice will tend to be self-cleaning plugs are removed a heavy streamwill be de- 15 but wherein, should for any reason the device liveredwith extremevelocity but when all plugs become clogged the device may bereadily except one or two are in place, a very fine and l p gentle sprayis produced. It will thus be seen And the invention seeks, as a stillfurther .that by in sing. or reducin h number of object, to provide adevice which'will hold only plugs used, I am able to produce manyvariations 20 a small quantity of water so'tliat when the flow f sp aywith ut using xtra valves which are of water is cut off, there will bevery little drip costly to install and mustbekept in proper condifrom th1 1 tion. This arrangement also enables one build- With the foregoingand other objects in view, ing h ving h y pressure on the Water pply tothe invention consists in certain novel details of deliver the samevolume from a shower head as 25 construction and combinations of partshereinanother building having a great deal lower after fully describedand claimed, it being under-- pressure. i stood that variousmodifications may be resorted The chamber 14 is enlarged at its lowerend to within the scope of the appended claims withportion while, at itsmouth, said chamber is prefout departing from the spirit or sacrificingany erably stepped, as indicated at ll, and scr w 30 of the advantagesof the invention. through the partition I I, axially of said chamber,

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a, is a stem 18 having acylindrical head l9. This vertical sectional view through my improvedhea is formed wi h spaced sockets 20' to accomspray head, modate asuitable spanner wrench and formed on Fig. 2 is a transverse sectionalview on the line t e ste at ts oppos t d as particularly e as 2-2 ofFig,1, in Fig. 2, is a squared boss 2|. Fitting over said Fig. 3 is atransverse sectional view on the line boss is ast P W r 22 and screwedinto the 3-3 of-Fig. 1, stem through said boss is a cap screw 23 remov-Fig, 4 is-a bottom plan view ofthe device, ably securing the washer inposition. The washer 40 In carrying the invention into effect, I em loyis, of course, adapted to coact with the partition 40 9, preferablycylindrical casing In which, as H ,fOl' limiting the stem is againstdownward brought out in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawing, is i p acement.formed at its ends with hexagonal faces. to acvab y fitting th m I8 i ani e pray commodate a wrench and impart additional disk 24 chambered tosnugly receive the head is strength to the casing. Extendingtransversely of said stem and havingits lower end cut away to 5 withinthe casing, near the upper end thereof, f rm h flange. Z5 n ing flushwith said is a partition U, the casing being bored and head. Thisdiskdsof frusto-conical contour and tapped at its upper end to accommodate awater formed in the-periphery thereof is a series of cirpipe, asconventionally illustrated at l2. As will cumfe a y spa d d w w rd y flag roov s '50 b b e ved, the partition ll dividesth ing 26 which extendin the direction of the axis'of into an upper supply chamber l3 and alower dishe di k n min n at h h flan es 25.

charge chamber l4 and formed through said Asseen in Fig. 4, the grooves25 are substantially partitionis a circular series of concentricallydis- V-shaped in cross section. Removably fitting the posed feedpassages l5. These passages are stem l8, above the disk 24, is a secondinner spray tapped to removably receive closure plugs l6 disk 21provided at its lower end with a hub flange '55 28 which rests upon theupper end of the disk 24 for spacing the disks apart, and formed in theperiphery of the disk 21 is a series of circumferentially spaced grooves29 extending parallel to the axis of the disk and terminating at the hubflanges 28. As seen in Fig. 3, the grooves 29 are substantiallysemi-cylindrical in cross section. Overlying the disk 21 is a washer 30and extending through the stem l8, above the washer, is a key 3! lockingthe parts against upward displacement on the stem.

Surrounding the inner spray disks 24 and 21 is an outer frusto-conicalspray disk 32 provided at its upper end with a relatively thick hubflange 33 snugly receiving the disk 21 while, at its lower end, the disk32 fits snugly about the inclined periphery of the disk 24 to restthereon. Referring to Figure 1, it will be seen that since the disk 2'!is of cylindrical shape and is snugly received in the bore of the outerdisk, this disk 21 will act as a guide for the lower inner disk 24 andcause the disk 24 to move vertically in a straight line through thelower portion of the outer disk. Therefore, the lower inner disk will bemoved evenly into engagement with walls of the outer disk and grindingcontact between the outer disk and lower inner disk. The outer disk willalso be guided as it is drawn upwardly and will seat against walls ofthe body without grinding. Undesired wear upon the body and the spraydisks will, therefore, be eliminated and the disks will always beaccurately seated. It should also be noted. that the upper inner diskconstitutes a filler for preventing sediment from accumulating in theupper portion of the: outer disk above the lower inner disk and quicklyclogging grooves of the lower inner disk. Depending from the lower endof the disk 32 is an annular hub flange 34 somewhat thinner than theflange 33 and formed in the periphery of said disk is a series ofcircumferentially spaced downwardly flaring grooves 35 extending in thedirection of the axis of the disk and terminating at the flange 34. -Asseen in Fig. 3, the grooves 35 are substantially V-shaped in crosssection.

As will now be seen, water entering the supply chamber l3 of the casingill will flow through such of the passages l5 as are open to enter thedischarge chamber M of the casing when some of the water will flowthrough the grooves 29 of the disk 21 and thence through the grooves 26of the disk 24 to issue at the lower end of the head in an annularseries of fine spray streams. At the same time, water in the chamber I4will flow through the grooves 35 of the disk 32 to issue at the lowerend of the head in an annular series of fine spray streams surroundingthe spray streams issuing from the grooves 26. Thus, an inner and outerseries of spray streams will be discharged trom the head. v

As the head l9 of the stem I8 is housed by the disk 2!, access to saidhead with a pair of pliers or a pipe wrench cannot be had to molest theadjustment of said stem. Accordingly, tampering with the device, in thepractical use thereof, will be Iorestalled. However, by engaging aproper spanner wrench in the sockets of the head l9 0! the stem, thestem may be turned in one direction for shifting the periphery of thedisk 32 into engagement with the lower end of the annular wall of thechamber I 4 of the casing l0, when flow of water through the grooves 35will be correspondingly restricted, and by turning the stem in theopposite direction to lower the disk 82, an increased flow of waterthrough the grooves 35 will be permitted. The size oi the streams ofwater issuing from these grooves may, accordingly, be readily regulatedand a thorough cleaning of the grooves efiected. By pressing upwardlyagainst the lower end of the flange 34 during unscrewing of the stem theinner disks may be allowed to move downwardly through the outerdiskbefore the outer disk drops and have their grooves 26 and 29thoroughly cleaned, or, if so desired, the disks may be allowed to movedownwardly together and the outer disk then thrust upwardly to permitcleaning of the grooves of the inner disks. To disassemble the device,it is first necessary to remove the casing Hi from the pipe l2 when thescrew 23 and washer 22 are removed. The stem i8 may then be backed out'through the partition I i when the spray disks may be removed from saidstem. I accordingly provide a particularly simple and effective devicefor the purpose set forth and in this connection attention is directedto the fact that when the stem is screwed downwardly so as to permitwater to rush over and past the spray disks for cleaning. said disks, nogrinding action on said disks will be set up.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. A spray head including a casing having a discharge chamber, a stemthreaded in the casing and extending axially of. said chamber, innerspray disks carried by said stem one above the other, and an outer spraydisk fitting about the inner spray disks and supported thereby, theouter disk having a toothed marginal portion for wedging engagement withwalls of the discharge chamber about the outlet thereof, the upper oneof the inner disks being slidable through the outer disk and formed withfluid passages about its margin and the lower inner disk having atoothed marginal portion for wedging engagement with walls ofthe outerdisk, said stem being adjustable for positively shifting said disksvertically.

2. A spray head including a casing having a discharge chamber providedwith an out-let at its bottom, a stem threaded in the casing andextending through-the outlet axially of the chamber and outlet, innerspray disks carried by said stem one above another, an outer spray diskdisposed concentric with the inner spray disks and having wedgingengagement with walls of the casing about the outlet, the lower one ofthe inner spray disks having wedging fit within the outer disk, saidstem when turned being moved vertically to positively move the disksrelative to the outlet of said chamber, and means for limiting downwardmovement of said stem.

3. A spray head including a casing having a discharge chamber formedwith an outlet in its bottom, a stem threaded in the casing andextending axially of the chamber with its lower portion projectingthroughthe outlet, an inner spray disk carried by said stem, a secondinner spray disk disposed above and supported upon the first spray disk,and an outer spray disk surrounding both inner spray disks with thefirst mentioned inner disk wedged into the outer spray disk, the outerspray disk having wedging engagement with walls of the outlet of saidchamber, marginal portions of the disks being formed with groovesdefining passages, said stem being adjustable to positively move thedisks vertically of the casingand supportthem in adjusted position. v

4. A spray head including a casing having a discharge chamber, a stemthreaded in said casing and mounted axially of the chamber, an inner Ispray disk carried by said stem, a second inner iii spray disk disposedabove and supported by the first mentioned disk, and an outer spray disksurrounding both inner spray disks and having sliding fit about theupper inner disk and wedging fit about the lower inner disk, all of saiddisks being provided with vertically extending peripheral groovesconstituting water passages and terminating in spaced relation to lowerends of the disks and the lower portion of the outer disk being extendeddownwardly below the grooves of the lower inner disk in radial spacedrelation to the lower end portion of the said lower inner disk, saidstem when adjusted serving to positively move the disks relative to theoutlet of said chamber and support the disks in an adjusted position.

5. A spray head including a casing having a partition defining a supplychamber and a discharge chamber, there being openings in the partitionfor establishing communication between the chambers, means forselectively closing one or more of said openings and thereby regulatethe volume of flow through the chambers, spray disks mounted in theoutlet of the discharge chamber, and means for positively adjusting thedisks relative to the outlet of the discharge chamber and holding thedisks in adjusted position.

6. A spray head including a casinghaving a transverse partition integraltherewith and dividing the casing into an upper supply chamber and alower discharge chamber, the partition being formed with a plurality ofopenings communicating with said chambers, removable means forselectively closing one or more of said openings to regulate the volumeof flow through said chambers, and a spray disk mounted in the mouth ofthe discharge chamber.

'7. A spray head including a casing having atransverse partition formingupper and lower chambers, one chamber being provided with a dischargeopening, there being a plurality of threaded openings formed in saidpartition and establishing communication between the chambers,concentric frusto-conical spray disks mounted in the lower chamber andprovided with peripheral passages to permit the discharge of fluidtherethrough, means for admitting fluid to the upper chamber, andthreaded plugs adapted to be screwed into said openings for selectivelyclosing one or more of the openings and regulate the flow of fluid fromthe upper chamber into the lower.

chamber.

8. A spray head including a casing. having a chamber provided withadischarge opening, the walls of said opening being stepped, a stemthreaded in the casing and extending within the chamber and through theoutlet axially thereof,

inner and outer substantially frusto-conical spray disks carried by saidstem one about the other and provided with peripheral passages to permitdischarge of fluid therethrough, and means .for admitting fluid intosaid chamber, said stem being adjustable vertically in said casing toshift the disks vertically and move the outer spray disk into and out ofengagement with the stepped walls of the discharge opening.

9. A spray head including a casing having a chamber provided with adischarge opening in its bottom, a stem disposed vertically within saidchamber and provided with an enlarged, head at its lower end extendingthrough the discharge opening, a frusto-conical inner spray disk havingits lower portion cut away to form a flange adapted to fit snugly aboutthe head of the stem, and an outer frusto-conical spray disk having itslower portion cut away to form a depending annular flange surroundingthe flange of the inner disk in radial spaced relation thereto, thewalls of both of said disks being provided with external grooves topermit passage of fluid therethrough, said grooves extending verticallywith their lower ends terminating at the upper ends of the flanges, andwalls of the outlet opening. being spaced radially from lower portionsof the grooves of the outer disk, said stem being adjustable verticallythrough the discharge opening and when shifted downwardly permittingflooding of the parts for cleaning purposes.

FRED H. KNOWLTON.

